


Corruption

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Self-Harm, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 05:37:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16152692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Peridot gets corrupted and loses control of herself, can the others help her before its too late?





	1. Chapter 1

Peridot had spent a whole day tracking down a corrupted gem monster. She had been so upset trying to poof it, because it kept outsmarting her and her ‘Peri Plans’. When she finally poofed it she felt really- sick. A feeling era 2 gems shouldn't feel. She warped home to the barn and sat in the hammock, groaning in agony. She hated this feeling, it made her anxious. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to come in contact with a corrupted gem.

She looked down at her hands, struggling to swallow. What if touching that corrupted monsters gem had corrupted her too? She trembled and tried to ignore the thought, laying back in the hammock. She wished Lapis would just get home already, she couldn’t stand being alone while she felt like this. She needed someone to just hold her and comfort her. She hugged herself as tears began to fall.

“Lapis… Please come home.. I need you..” Peridot choked out through her sobs, curling up in a ball and crying her heart out. She eventually fell into a restless sleep, she had no idea if she would wake up.

\---

Lapis had just flown home from Steven’s house, where she had been all day. She had been hanging out with the crystal gems and Steven, they had left Peridot alone to capture a corrupt gem, since she had done it once before. That had been a big mistake.

Lapis was welcomed into the barn by an awful smell, it smelled like a strong chemical, she blocked her nose and looked around.

“Peridot? Are you in here? You shouldn’t be in here with that stench-” She looked around, noticing the shadow of her smaller friend. “There you are.. Come on, we should let this place air out before we-”

Lapis was cut off by Peridot turning and glaring at her. Her eyes were dark and dripping a gross green liquid out of them, there was some dripping from her mouth too.

“P-Peridot?!” Lapis stepped back, afraid. “Peridot that isn’t funny!..” Lapis spread her wings, she was ready to fly if she needed to. Peridot raised up from the ground and stood on all fours, she was much taller than Lapis. She had spikes sprouting from her shoulders and forehead, much like the ones Peridot had said were on corrupted gems at the kindergarten. Actually, Peridot looked exactly like what she had described.

Peridot took a step towards her, there was a thick, gooey puddle under where her foot had previously been. The chemical smell grew worse with every step Peridot took, Lapis panicked and flew out of the barn, Peridot chased her, roaring and crying out. Her voice was distorted and sounded upset.

Peridot must have been in so much pain.

Lapis felt a pang of guilt in her chest as she flew away from her friend, she didn’t want to leave her like this. She took a deep breath and flew back towards her, landing in front of her.

“Peridot... “ Lapis tried to sound as calm as she could, gently outstretching a hand towards her face. Peridot growled and the green goo continued to drip down onto the grass, burning holes in it. ‘It’s acidic’ Lapis thought, shivering. ‘Best not to touch it.”

Peridot glared at Lapis’ hand, she wasn’t sure what to do. She felt the urge to attack her, but managed to restrain herself. She bared her fangs and Lapis flinched, but didn’t move her hand away. It was clear to Peridot that Lapis trusted her.

“Lap…” Peridot tried to say Lapis’ name, but didn’t succeed. Lapis understood though, she nodded.

“Yes Peridot… It’s me, Lapis.. You know me” Lapis gently touched Peridot’s face, caressing her cheek softly. Peridot hissed at the touch, but quickly calmed back down. She was so scared, she couldn’t scare away her only remaining friend.

That’s when she heard the warp pad activate. She stared over at it and panicked when she saw Garnet, pearl, and Amethyst. They would likely poof her for being corrupted, but she didn’t want that. She roared out in fear, running into the barn and desperately looking for somewhere to hide. But they had already seen her. She backed up into a corner, shaking. She didn’t want to attack them, she knew that would only make matters worse.

“Stop! Don’t hurt her!” Lapis shouted, the others didn’t listen. Peridot looked over at Lapis and tried to run to her for help, but Amethyst got between them. She cried out in alarm as she was trapped in Amethyst’s whip, then knocked to the ground. She looked up at her then noticed Pearl, who had her spear aimed directly at her face. Lapis ran over and shoved her away, grabbing Peridot and gently holding her.

“Stop it! That’s Peridot you’re trying to poof! She won’t hurt you!” Lapis brushed Peridot’s hair off of her face, revealing her gem, which had been damaged when it was corrupting. The others stared, putting away their weapons.

“Even with my future vision I… did not see this.” Garnet felt bad for almost poofing a member of her team, and even worse because even with future vision she didn’t know it was Peridot.

Peridot attempted to call them clods, but couldn’t get the word out. Lapis continued to hold Peridot close to her, Era 1 gems couldn’t be corrupted by touching corrupted gems, only Era 2 gems could, they didn’t have the immunity the others did. Peridot cuddled into her, she was still scared of herself. What if she lost control and hurt the ones she cared about? Or worse?

She whimpered at the thought of hurting her beloved Lapis, nuzzling into her for comfort. The chemical smell had subsided finally, since she wasn’t moving much, so Lapis could breathe easy without the gross smell bothering her. Pearl and Amethyst warped back to the temple, but Garnet stayed. She kneeled in front of Peridot.

“I’m sorry for this, I- I couldn’t see that it was you in my future vision. I thought it was just another corrupt gem that had gotten loose.” Garnet apologized, then got up. “Lapis, I trust you will keep her under control” She warped home to the temple as well, leaving Lapis and Peridot alone together.

Lapis sighed and walked over to the hammock, or at least what remained of the hammock. Most of it had been ruined by the acidic goo dripping out of Peridot’s mouth. At least it wasn’t coming from her eyes anymore. Peridot walked over and sat down, she looked at Lapis and frowned. She wondered if Lapis still loved her, even though she was a monster.

Lapis looked at Peridot and frowned as well. “Peridot I... “ She was at a loss for words, she looked away and Peridot felt the last piece of humanity left in her mind shattering. She growled and hissed at Lapis. Knocking her to the ground.

“Peridot!...” Lapis yelped and stared up at her in fear.

She snapped, she threw Lapis across the barn then ran outside, she ran to the warp pad, but it didn’t work. She began to panic, crying as she tried to make it work. Lapis ran over and tried to comfort her, even though Peridot had hurt her, she knew it wasn’t her fault.

Peridot sobbed and whimpered, she wanted to get help. She banged on the warp pad and cried, she gave up and curled up in fetal position, she felt helpless. Lapis frowned and gently patted her hair, trying to calm her down.

“Hey… Peridot you’re okay… everything will be alright..” Lapis cooed, Peridot sniffled and nuzzled into Lapis, she needed the comfort. Every inch of her body was aching and she wanted to either get help or just be shattered already, it was agony. “Here… I’ll start saying places to warp… you make a sound when I say where you want to go okay?” She stroked Peridot’s cheek softly and Peridot nodded.

“Okay… Kindergarten- Galaxy warp- Steven’s house-” Peridot made a noise when she said Steven’s house, Lapis nodded and warped them there. Peridot ran up to the temple, seeing Steven fast asleep in his room. Peridot scratched on the door, Lapis went in and got him. He was very tired, but was willing to help his friends. He walked outside and saw Peridot, instantly widening awake in shock.

“C-C-Corruption!” He was about to run back inside when Lapis grabbed him.

“Steven, that’s Peridot. Please try to help her” Lapis begged, Steven nodded.

“I’ll try- but it probably won’t work-” Steven licked his hand and place it on Peridot’s gem, it sparkled for a second and the small crack healed, but that didn’t fix Peridot’s corruption. She was too far gone.

Peridot felt so upset by the failure, she just wanted to be herself again, so hold her Lapis and feel loved again. She back away from her two friends and whimpered, then darted off down the beach, she was starting to leave gooey footprints again. She ran and ran, she didn’t know where she was going, all she knew was that she needed to leave, to leave and never bother her friends again.

She ran through the town and then out into the open road, she ran along the road as tears welled up in her eyes.

She had never even gotten to say goodbye.

She sobbed as she ran, soon finding herself in the middle of nowhere. The trail of footprints had stopped quite a while back, so it wasn’t likely the others would find her. She curled up in some long grass on the side of the road, staring up at the stars as her head filled with thoughts. She looked around and felt herself losing control. Her mind was being filled with blind anger and pain, she couldn’t think rationally anymore, she was losing herself. She got up and ran again, her thoughts were all merging into one, awful thought.

That thought was to shatter herself.

She was so corrupt that she couldn’t think like a normal gem anymore, now acting like a wild animal. She ran and tried to find something strong enough to shatter her gem with, but had no luck. She sobbed as she continued to search. She soon found herself at the top of a mountain, there was a steep cliff down one side. She could hear her friends voices from far away, but they didn’t register in her head. She took a step closer to the cliff-face, then reached up to touch her gem.

She took another step closer and shivered, but something stopped her from getting any closer. She was stiff with fear. She knew it would hurt when she was shattered, she knew it would be an excruciating pain and then nothing. She couldn’t do it.

At least, not by falling.

She stumbled back from the edge and curled up again, shaking. She looked over at a rather sharp rock and gulped. She looked down at it and felt her pulse quicken, she was really going to do this. She took a deep breath before slamming her forehead into the rock, it didn’t shatter her gem, but it very badly damaged it to the point where she couldn’t move her body. She just stayed there, bucketloads of acidic goo pouring out of her face.

That’s when she heard something. Someone.

“Peridot!..”


	2. Chapter 2

It was Lapis.

Peridot panicked and tried to get up, but she was frozen. Not from fear, from how damaged she was. She whimpered as the voice only got close, still yelling her name. Had she been seen

“Peridot!’ Lapis yelled, she sounded like she was crying. Peridot felt guilt smothering her when Lapis screamed, she had been seen. “PERI!” Lapis ran as fast as she could over to her friend, sobbing. “Peridot wake up! Get up!” She tried to pick Peridot up, only making the situation worse  
One more knock and Peridot’s gem would shatter, it wasn’t safe for Peridot to be out here on her own. Lapis tried to drag her away from the rock, but she was too heavy. Lapis sobbed “Please don’t leave me like this Peridot!..” Lapis sobbed, she couldn’t leave Peridot out here, and she couldn’t move her. She didn’t know what to do. She sniffled.

“Why did you have to do this to me Peri… I loved you… I really loved you..” Her voice was shaky and quiet, she sat down next to Peridot, who was still paralyzed. “I thought you would be with me forever Peri..” She wiped the tears from her eyes as she looked at her friend, who was now just staring at her, tears welling in her eyes. Peridot didn’t want Lapis to be upset, that’s why she had ran. She didn’t want Lapis to see her like this. 

Lapis looked at Peridot’s gem and hesitated before gently touching it. “Why did you have to do this..” She shivered, Peridot closed her eyes and tried to just ignore her heartbreak-filled voice. But it didn’t work. Lapis knew there was nothing she could do now. If she leaved to get Steven, Peridot would likely just finish the job, and poofing her to take her home- that was just as dangerous. 

Peridot felt agony and fear, she didn’t know what Lapis was going to do. Lapis’ hand was still on her gem, she was afraid. Lapis looked down at her friend and felt her chest tighten. 

“Is this… is this what you really want, Peridot?... To be shattered?... To never reform again?... To… never hold me again...” Lapis’ voice trailed off to silence, she looked away. Peridot opened her eyes again when she felt Lapis’ hand beginning to squeeze her gem, she panicked.

Lapis continued to squeeze, tears of anger dripping down her face now. 

“Fine, Peridot, just leave me alone… Just leave me behind!..” Lapis’ grip tightened and then there was a bright flash, Peridot had poofed but- It was for an awful reason.

Lapis looked at the light green shards in her hand, she felt her soul leaving her body.

“What have I done..”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was so short, just wanted to wrap it up.


End file.
